


What the heart wants.

by skyblue993



Category: The Fosters (TV 2013)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Bachelor!Jude, Joah - Freeform, Jonnor - Freeform, Jonnor vs Joah, Jude's gonna pick his soulmate, M/M, lots of flirting, or maybe nah, reality show
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-29
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-08-18 12:38:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8162315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skyblue993/pseuds/skyblue993
Summary: It's Jonnor vs Joah, Folks.





	1. If you have any questions..

Jude knows he's rotten luck in love. The invisible scars on his heart mounted up throughout the years definitely proved it and he's not like he's desperate--well, yeah, in a way he is-- but how can he be blamed since he's always watched dreamily at those kind of tv shows, even though he'd always wore a mask of total indifference in presence of his family to avoid his sisters endless teasing, more specifically at _how_ this tv show in particular always ends, whose aim is to help people find their true love? He'll probably never forget the look of pure bedazzlement on his moms and sisters faces when he's announced. _“I want to be San Diego's next bachelor.”_ , needless to say that the first reaction has been Mariana's who snapped back from the first moment of pure shock and asked him, “Is this a _'I think I'm straight'_ sort of phase again?” Before everyone erupted in giggles.

Jude wasn't descouraged though. He kept his dignity and integrity in a firm grip and he put up with all the teasing for weeks before his family,after realizing tha he wasn't joking about this, finally came around.

 

It's one week before the airing episode and Jude has a final meeting with the production of  _Lonely hearts_   to set things straight-- no puns-- for good.

Jude's surprisingly calm despite the rush of suffocating anxiety running through his veins at the thought that he's gonna be watched live 24/7 for the next thirty days but it pretty much fades away as soon as they inform him about the show's rules which consist in living into a luxury mansion (provided with every comfort.) with two other men, rigorously intervied by the production itself according to Jude's likes and preferences in men. He doesn't know who these men are but he's quite excited for the prospect of it.

He listens to the show's rules and it's all pretty basics; Two men are going to _'_ compete' against each other for him as they'll plan small dates -- Jude frowns at that because he really can't imagine what they can possibly mean by _Small dates_ since they're gonna be stuck into that house for thirty days... but he doesn't question it, he keeps listening-- do everything they can to conquer Jude's heart and in the end Jude's just gonna have to chose who, he thinks, is the right person for him or as Michaela, the woman sitting next to him reminds him.

"Don't feel pressured to make a decision. You can always come home alone if neither of them is the one for you. The whole point of this show is finding your _one_ , if neither of those guys do that for you.. well, that's completely fine. "

She shurgs like it's not a biggie, which it is, according to Jude because he knows she's saying it for their own interests and not his.

Leaving the show without choosing definitely increases the interest of the audience and consequently the ratings too.

But see, despite what everyone might think, He's not there for fame, he is there because he has always been fascinated by the pure magic of the _choice moment.._

“ _You're my choice. You're the one for me..”_

It's...

Oh, Crap, Jude's almost crying..

See? It gets Jude a complete mess.That part has always taken Jude's breath away.

 

Jude's almost tempted to sigh as he scrolls through the pages of the luxury mension's dépliant. He really couldn't imagine what they meant at first by _luxury_ but now Jude has a slight idea...

"Fuck."

He breaths out as he finds himself staring agape at the photo of the majestic garden-- which has a view on the Ocean-- and couldn't refrain his imagination from start wandering, picturing himself as he walks into those gardens or take a swim into that so inviting pool before lay down on one of those pool chairs..

“Sorry." He apologizes for the subtle curses muttured under his breath, to no one in particular, _Jude realizes_ , since the people sat at the huge circular table are too busy checking their phones..

 

“So.. Jude Adams Foster.” Ryan, the Ceo of the reality show, clears his throat and Jude looks up from the dépliant and gives him all of his attention. “If you have any questions..”

“I have.” Jude replies as he feels a soft blush creeping over his cheeks.. “T-These guys..”

Ryan gives a soft nod of his head. “The competitors.”

Jude knows it's technically what they are but still, he hates that word, because yes it is a game but to him, it's a bit more than that..

“Um.. yeah _. The competitors._ Do they know who they are competing, for?”

Michaela gives a low chucke as she raises an eyebrow. “There's your picture on our website, Jude, _for interviews_.”

“Oh.”

“They knew who you were even before auditioning.”

“ _Oh.”_

Jude wants to say more than just _Oh_ but at the moment he's a bit at loss of words so he decides to blame the adrenalin flooding through his veins.

“Needless to say, Jude, that this is a reality show so you'll be watched 24/7.”  
Jude nods his head. “I know.”

“There's a total of seventy eight cameras in the whole perimeter of the house, Except for bathrooms--” She trails off with a soft chuckle. “ And there's one camera in your bedroom but you can decide, for privacy related reasons, to take your mic off for the night. If you have any more questions, we're hear to help you out with everything we possibly can.”

“I think I'm good.”

  
“Perfect. You ready for the adventure that will most likely change your life?”

Jude certainly hopes so..

“I'm looking forward to it.”

Jude stands up and he shakes everyone's hand with a firm grip before heading out of the door.

In a week from now he'll met who, he hopes, gonna be the man that will change his life and the thought alone is capable of make him all giddy inside.

 


	2. Yin and yang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to make a quick note that there's Jonnor AND Joah in this fic as it could have been Jonnor and Jude with anyone else.  
> It's just fictional.. and absolutely NON CANON universe.

Jude's the first person to enter the house.

He knows he's being watched so he tries to give the impression of not being so much amazed by the splendor that's surrounding him so he walks casually, almost in a bored kind of way, with hands in his pockets as he nonchalantly checks the rooms and spaces of the house which has three queen size bedrooms, each one provided with a private bathroom, and that's not really shocking Jude as much as the personal jacuzzi in it.

The kitchen is something else. He can easily imagine himself cooking pancakes or even baking since it's provided with every possible comfort in the whole universe and He could easily picture them as they watch tv on that 50-inch plasma.

When Jude feels like surprises are over, he steps through the glass door and almost faint right there as he's met by the 'on live' sight of the garden...

"Breathtaking, huh?"

Jude jerks around, startled by the sudden husky voice breaking his train of thoughts. Jude can't bring himself to not stare at the boy standing across from him with eyes that-- despite the huskiness of his voice-- looks really sweet and when Jude's gaze trails downwards -- not feeling self conscious in the slightest about shamelessy checking out that poor guy in front of his eyes, let's just say that the rest is as appetizing as his voice.

"Hi. I'm Connor Stevens." And then he pulls out a blue rose from behind his back and that's basically enough reason to make Jude swoon right there.

"Hi." Jude sounds breathless as he takes the rose Connor's offering him, mentally wondering who the hell does that Before remembering that they are in a reality show.

Let's just enjoy this courting ritual, Jude mentally makes a note, that never in a million years someone will do that for him out of here.

"I'm Jude."

Connor's smile widens as he says, like it's the most natural thing in the world.

"Yeah, I know."

 

_"I think he's.. something else from what I thought He would be." Connor confesses to the private camera that is placed in a small room apart from the main house – but still part of the perimetre-- where they can freely express their thoughts, their feelings, their fears._

_It's there for them._

_"He seems so sweet and shy." Connor laughs. "I've always been attracted to forward people because I've always found the approach with them.. easier, I guess.. but Jude... I don't know, he has something, in those innocent eyes that flicked something in me since the moment we met."_

 

 

"So it's just the two of us.." Jude smiles awkwardly as he sits down on the huge leather couch. He shouldn't be surprised but he still is when Connor, despite the huge amount of available space on the couch, sinks down right next to Jude. 

"Yeah makes things easier." Connor's laughter fills the air and Jude smiles at the way it sounds like the angels are singing or something.

"Oh you wish." Jude decides to step up his game just a little bit, being rewarded by Connor's mischievous smirk that Jesus, is really, really hot.

"I don't mind a bit of competition."

"You seem pretty confident about yourself."

"Oh I am."

 

_"What's the first impression that Connor has given me?" Jude blushes as he says. "Well.. he is.. very handsome.. more than handsome, okay I should probably.. mmh, can we cut this part? No okay. Um... He seems interesting with that cocky attitude and I can definitely roll with that even though I've always kind of abhorred people so full of themselves but whataver..” Jude smiles as he waves his hand in a dismissive way. “ Let's just say that those dimples on his cheeks make that cocky smirk a little more enjoyable.”_

 

Jude's smiling when he notices a red envelope on the table, he asks Connor.

"What's this?"

Connor looks as confused as Jude so he just suggests to open the envelope to find out what this is all about.

"It says to turn on the tv."

"Oh my--" Connor trails off with a laugh and Jude finds himself staring agape at the way Connor's cheeks flush pink.

 

_"Hello, I'm Connor Stevens."_

"That's your callback's video." Jude points out with a chuckle as he leans back against the couch. "This is gonna be good." He murmurs under his breath, unaware of Connor's persistent gaze on him or maybe he does notice, he just pretends like he doesn't because it really makes him a little ill at ease.

_"What to say about me.. I'm twenty-five years old boy from San Diego, California."_

"I live in San Diego too! "

Jude's excited edge in his voice fades a bit when he's met by Connor's huge eyes looking right at him.

_Anyway.._

_"I have no problems in you know, meeting guys."_

"Arrogant much?" Jude snorts quietly as he throws him a quick look from the corner of his eyes.

_"But I'm here because I think Jude and I would find in our diversities..” and then Connor trails off with a shake of his head, a nervous smile on his lips as he corrects himself. “—Our characters Disparities something that could help us bond because I truly believe in what they say,  that opposites attract and who knows? Maybe we get a jump start on the game.”_

_The woman interviewing Connor-- that Jude recognizes as Michaela, the girl from the meeting with the production-- asks Connor if he's ever been in a long relationship before._

_Connor blushes a bit as he rubs his neck. “Um.. no. I've recently been dumped.”_

  
Jude's mouth falls open, against his own will, at the revelation because Connor absolutely looks like a _Dumper_ , rather than a _dumped._ He might be actually speechless.

“Don't judge a book by its cover.” Connor frowns as he notices Jude's bewildered expression, feeling absolutely sorry the moment after for judging Connor so frivolously.

“Sorry.. it's just.. I'm actually surprised.”

“Well..” Connor looks away from him, fixing his gaze on the playing videos with Michaela asking him routine questions about his family and hobbies... “There's a beating heart beneath this shell.”

“And what a hard shell..” Jude blushes.

“What?” Connor blinks for a moment before throwing Jude a cheeky look, asking him with absolute nonchalance. “ You can touch it if you want.”

Jude's eyes widen as his face turns completely flushed by embarrassment realizing that his inner thoughts apparently haven't been so hidden, after all.

“D-Did I say it out loud?”  
Connor nods as he can't refrain the bright laugh escaping his lips and despite the flush on his face Jude can't help but notice how pearly those teeth are, brighter than a light bulb and -- Jude's sure about this-- are more than enough to lit up the whole room.

 

 

Meanwhile At the Adams Foster household the whole family is gathered in the living room watching their beloved Jude while he... well, everyone has a different opinion about that..

There are his moms who are so, _so_ proud of their son. “Look at him, Stef. Our baby is growing up.”

“He's so cute.” Mariana comments as he grabs a fist of popcorn before shoving them into her mouth. “He's clearly intimidated by Connor's attire But I mean, how could he be blamed.. that Connor is a hella hot.”

“Mariana, Jesus.” Callie snorts. “He's my little brother you're talking about.”  
“Our little brother.” Mariana sasses back almost immediately. “And nothing about him screams _little_ at this very moment....”  
“Mariana!”  
“Sorry, but he's clearly having a boner under that gaze.. and oh, God he's touching his foreharm.. _his very hard looking foreharm.”_

“Mariana!”

“He needs to step up his flirting game or Connor will most likely run away with the other contestant.”  
“Have some faith in your brother, Jesus.” Lena rolls her eyes as he keeps her gaze firm planted on the LCD screen.

“I'm hashtag _Team Jonnor_.” Mariana announces as she claps her hands.

“You don't even know what the other guy looks like.” Callie points out with a smirk on her face.

“ _I've seen enough.”_ Mariana counters back as she bits her lips, narrowing her eyes when Connor's biceps is framed in close up.

“Your thirst is unquenchable.” Jesus says earning a pillow being throw on his face by Mariana.

“Oh my God, Shut up, shut up! The other guy is here.”

 

Jude's eyes are lost into Connor's as he tells him if he wants to --because he would never force Jude to touch any of his skin-- he can touch the hardness of his bicep.

“Come on..” Connor gives him that thousand-megawatt smile that reduces Jude into a puddle of lameness. His throat gets suddenly dry when Connor takes an hold on his hand before lifting it over his arm, Jude tries to ignore the goosebumps raising over his skin wherever they're touching.

“Oh Wow.” Jude gasps as he squeezes the flexed muscle. “It's--”

Really hard, yeah.. but Jude doesn't have the time to finish the sentence because they both turn around at someone's voice breaking their moment of acquaintanceship.

“I hope I'm not interrupting anything.”

Jude notices the way Connor rolls his eyes, thinking that no one is watching him but yeah.. Jude notices that and he also takes note of how his jaw clenched, probably thinking that. “yeah.. you're so interrupting.”

Jude hears himself giving a soft chuckle as the boy approaches him smiling warmly as he holds out his hand to Jude. “My name is Noah.” and then he pulls out a box of chocolates that just happens to be Jude's favorites.

Connor has a look on his face that screams _war,_ especially when the boy throws him a brief but intense look of challenge before turning his attention back to Jude. A look of determination on his face as he adds with bright voice. “ And I'm all yours.”


	3. Angel and sinner.

Jude has spent an hour talking to Noah while Connor showered and Noah hasn't done anything to hide his relief to be finally alone with Jude.

"Is it good, huh?" Noah asks him. "To finally Be alone without _the hawk_ watching over us."  
Jude chuckles at that, an eyebrow arching up because wow, the rivalty between those two is more than evident, not that Jude hasn't expected it.. but that also doesn't mean that things need to be awkward and tense since day one, Jesus.

"Well, We'll be sharing this house, _the three of us.._ that's the whole point, you know? Spending as much time together as possible.."

  
Noah smiles before leaning in just slightly, his breath soft and calm as he whispers into Jude's ear. “You can't blame me for wanting to spend every minute of this experience _alone_ with you."

  
Jude couldn't refrain the nervous chortle escaping his lips, his cheeks turning pink as he can't bring himself to avoid Noah's persistent gaze piercing right through him, making him feel naked and so, _so small._

_"He's.. flirty. In a innocent kind of way.. " Jude says to the cameras, that same night.  
"In my life, I can say that I've never being courted by two handsome men like them and it's a challenge because they have such different personality! You know? Noah seems the kind of guy that he does everything in his power to make you blush and he seems the kind of guy that never gets tired of cuddling._

_Connor... well Connor looks definitely more self confident than Noah. See, He lets his body speak for him, his facial expressions and body language do a really good job in letting people know that he's knows what's up."_

 

"Good morning to my favorite bachelor in the whole world."

  
"Hey Noah." His voice breaks a little, not used to such _etiquette_ besides, He swears no one ever talked to him like that, like _Ever._  
Noah smiles at the blush creeping over Jude's cheeks and sits down on one of the pool chairs. He notices that Jude's sitting on the grass, on a pool towel so he raises one eyebrow quizzically at him and asks him.

" Wouldn't be more comfortable to lay on one of these chairs?"

  
Jude looks up, acknowledging how Close Noah's face is to his own. His brown eyes meet Noah's and in that moment, as Noah looks at him all fake innocent and smiley Jude's taking back what he's said the previous night as they speak.  
Be Damned the innocent flirting, _boy's forward._

  
"I'm good." Jude replies as he lays on his back, staring for a moment at the cloudless sky above them.

  
"You know what?" Noah's wondering voice snaps him back from his momentarily moment of haze. "Grass does look more comfortable. I'll keep you some company."  
Before Jude has the opportunity to say anything, he finds himself nodding, mumbling a very weak. "yeah.. um.. yeah okay." as Noah slides down on the grass with him.

 

Jude can't possibly refrain his gaze to wander over Noah's features as he stretches out.  
"Ahhh.. this is Heaven--" Noah tells him, letting out a soft yawn before rolling on his side.

The proximity of their faces makes Jude shifts, just a tiny bit, further against the feet of the pool chair. He knows what is he doing there, and he's well aware that all of this is certainly new to him just like being courted by these man that are supposed to woo the shit out of him but to Jude --San Diego's purest virgin-- this closeness, after just one day, It's definitely intense.

“ _\--And you definitely look like an angel."_  
Oh okay.

Jude imposes himself to not be pathetic for once but as usual he has no control over his emotions so he blushes, he lets his face get so completely flushed it actually feels like his ears are going on fire.

He gapes because he has to say something, right? Noah's been so nice. He has to thank him for the compliment but before Jude can actually give voice to his thoughts, someone else's break their _moment--_ and he definitely does it on purpose.

"Aww, that's so cute.... Are you about to ask him if he got hurt falling down from the sky?”

They both turn their faces to the owner of the sharp, pungent voice. Their widened eyes are met by Connor's amused smirk as he shakes his head at Noah.

"You know, _I'm here for Jude_ , but if you told a lame pick up line like that to me... I'd shown you what hell is all about."

  
Jude closes his eyes for a brief moment, breathing sharply through his nose.  
He can feel Noah's body tense as he moves upwards and as predicted, He finds him sitting up on the grass holding Connor's stern look.

  
"Well luckily, for the both of us, that's not a concern.. _not now,_ _not in the foreseeable future, not ever."_

  
"Glad we understand each other.” Connor replied cockily before addressing to Jude. “Hey, Jude?"

  
Jude's eyes are flicking back and forth from one boy the other one, during that brief but intense exchange. The best he can manages is to clear his throat, suddenly dry so Jude forces the words out.  
"Y-yeah?"

  
"You wanna take a swim with me?" Connor asks him with mischievous light flashing across his eyes.

Jude knows it's probably rude, and he doesn't mean to, but he really wants to try the pool. He's wanted to take a swim since he's seen it on the brochure.

  
"S-Sure."

  
He pretends to not to hear the low, but still audible, groan escaping Noah's lips and feels kinda horrible for bailing on him like that so just because Noah's being very nice to him and he doesn't deserve to be suddenly left “high and dry” he asks him if he wants to come along.

  
Noah looks sad as he shakes his head. "N-no thanks. I'm allergic to _Chlorine_ ."

"Oh, I'm sorry Noah, I didn't know.." Jude's conflicted right now, damn.. how is he suppose to choose if he feels guilty just for this? He's gonna break someone's heart for Fuck's sake..

"I..I can stay with you, if you want."

  
His eyes never leave Noah's sad puppy face as Connor snorts. "Oh, well, All I'll have to do is keeping you in the pool as much as possible, then."

  
"Not funny." Jude replies as he finds himself stuck between a rock and a hard place.   
He feels bad for Noah... but then he remembers what's this show is all about. He needs to spend some time with the both of them so that he can get to know them. It seems like they have all the time in the world but that's not the reality, so he decides to stick to the rules.

"I'll be right back."

  
"I'll go make myself a sandwich." 

  
Jude smiles politely as he walks towards the tempting pool. He digs his toe into the cool water, aware of Connor's devious presence behind his back.

"If you're thinking of pushing me into the pool, I'm warning you, young man--" he trails off with a soft gasp when Connor's surprisingly soft hands come to rest on his hips.

  
_"I'm classier than that, Jude."_

  
Jude has to exhales a breath he haven't even noticed he was holding, damn. His husky voice vibrated against his neck, sends shivers crawling up his spine. Jude's eyelids fall close for the briefest moment as he hears him whisper into his ear.

" Besides, there's no need to push you into the pool since _you'll want to join me on your own accord."_ It makes Jude's body shudder, the sudden lack of contact between their skin before Connor dives into the cool, crystalline , water.

His mouth falls open even if he imposed himself to not give Connor any sign that his weak attempts of showing off his body are working, but when Connor's face emerges, he can't help but follow the trails that those driplets of chlorine, sliding down his forehead and run over his cheeks until they fall on Connor's plump lips.  
Connor's smile grows wider as he watches Jude's face getting flushed at the mesmerizing sight.

  
"Y-you're doing on purpose, aren't you?"

  
"Doing what? Connor asks him with the fakest innocence Jude has ever witnessed in his entire life, as he darts out the tip of his tongue, licking away those droplets in the sexiest way possible.

  
"Fuck." Jude bits his tongue before he actually utters that word out. He remembers that curses are not allowed and He mentally thanks the production for this rule because otherwise he'd show Connor how affected he is right now, even if, Jude suspects he can see it from the way he's sweating right now.. and not to global warming related reasons.  
"So are you gonna join me or what?"

  
"Yeah.." Jude gulps down the lump formed in his throat as he takes a step towards the edge of the pool.

  
" Do you want me to catch you?" Jude doesn't need to look at Connor to know he absolutely mean it so he just laughs, taking a small jump before diving in.

 


	4. First impressions.

Jude knows who's gonna expect that night, but what makes him nervous is that he doesn't exactly know what to expect.

Noah's tense expression breaks into a breath-taking smile when he sees Jude walking on the grass towards him where he's settled the two cushions around the small tablecloth. Jude smiles when his eyes lower down and notices the candles, which in the back of his mind sees somehow dropping and burst the tablecloth in flames.. that would be utterly awkward and unpleasant.

Jude shakes his head as to clear it from those thoughts and sits down on the cushion.  
“Hello.”

“Hey.” Noah smiles, sitting down across from Jude. He fills two glasses of wine and hands it over to Jude's shaky hands.

“Thanks.”

Noah frowns at the way Jude's voice does this thing where it sounds almost on the verge of breaking.

“You okay?”

“Yes.. just.. it's all so new to me.” Jude admits, a nervous laugh escaping his lips. “I've never been, you know, courted before.”

Noah gives a soft sigh which sounds of relief probably relieved that the tension filling the air isn't due to Noah, per se, but to the fact that they're two boys enjoying a candlelight picnic, watched on national television and okay.. maybe Noah feels the tension now. It makes him blush fervently.

“Are you okay?”

  
“Oh yes.. I've just realized that we're on national television.. never mind.”

Jude gives a small laugh, trying to hide his smile behind the glass of wine.

“Should we make a pose? Never know how we look, right now.”

“Yeah..” Noah laughs, straightening up on legs, his long eyelashes fluttering against his cheeks. “Here. That's my good side.”

“It really is.” Jude blurts out, his eyes going slightly wide at the realization of what he's just said.

He sees Noah biting back a smile, looking at his feet. A bashful smile, that looks really good on him, Jude notices, flashes across his features.

“Thank you.. you're not half bad yourself.”

Jude hums in agreement, lifting his glass of wine. “Cheers.” Noah lifts up his own, laughing softly when their glasses clinks against each other, consequently spilling some wine on the tablecloth.

They both laugh, shaking their heads in amusement. When they're sobered up, Jude tells him.

“Tell me about yourself.”

Noah never dislodges his gaze from Jude's eyes as he begins to say, totally nonchalantly, almost as it's not incredibly impressive that someone is pursuing their life goals at such young age.

“There's not a lot to say, to be honest. I've majored in psychology at Yale and I'm starting my own practice.”

“Not a lot to say?” Jude asks with an eyebrow raised in amusement. “You slayed my whole existence with only one sentence."

_Mariana winces in sympathy as they all watch Jude nailing this first date with his charmer skills._

“ _Please, Jude.. don't mention the job at the grocery store..”_

“ _Why shouldn't he?” Callie sneers, her eyebrows arching together perfectly in a bitchy glare “If he truly likes him he'll accept that. It's still a job.”_

“ _Callie's right. Jude has nothing to be ashamed of, besides, he's working on his book so he needs that extra cash for rent and stuff.” Lena says. Mariana just rolls her eyes. “Okay.. but come on. The guy's majored in psychology..”_

“ _Shut up, Jesus. I can't hear what they're saying.” Jesus groans loudly. No one talks._

 

“What about you?” Noah asks him with a close-lipped smile. “Tell me something about you.”

“Well..” Jude sighs. "I live in San Diego and the most exciting part of my day is witnessing to old ladies fighting over cauliflowers..”

Jude lowers down his gaze, unable to face the look of pure disdain, he can feel, Noah's gonna give him. He hears a loud laugh, instead. He looks up and sees Noah, with head thrown backward, almost on the verge of tears.

Jude smiles tentatively, clearing his throat and feeling the moment pretty much awkward to his liking. It almost looks like Noah's amused by his job at the grocery store, which okay.. it's probably not the most acclaimed job in the world but it's not as bad as being a murderer, a snatcher or being part of the mafia clan. It's a job. Who's Noah to mock him for that? Once Noah has sobered up, he wipes away a tear striking down his eyes and hears him ask with smile still clear in his voice.

“Is that a real thing?”

Jude feels a bit more relieved, he smiles realizing that Noah's been laughing at the scene more than his job, per se. He feels his chest a lot lighter than few minues ago.

“Yeah.. I've seen things you humans wouldn't believe but fight over the freshest cauliflower.. come on!”

“Oh my God.. I need to see this!”

“You totally should!” Jude laughs, filling himself a glass of wine. “Where do you live?”

"Rolling hills.” Noah replies, his smile fading almost completely. Jude's mouth forms an O as he says. “Oh.. so you live in--”

“Los Angeles. Yeah.”

Suddenly the air starts getting thick with tension at the mention of Noah living in Los Angeles.

 

“ _I had a good time with Noah.” Jude tells to the camera. “There were moments in which.. I don't know, we didn't click like I thought we'd be. It obviously just first impression but we fit in certain things and we drift apart on others. Like.. he's starting his new practice in Los Angeles and when I mentioned the distance he hasn't given me an answer. I mean, if hypothetically my choice is on him, is he expecting me to move to Los Angeles just because he thinks there's nothing but a lame job keeping me in San Diego?” Jude takes a deep breath, running his hand over his face. “I guess we'll see which way it turns and I guess, that'll be a concern only if he's gonna be my choice.”_

 

As they awkwardly walk through the immense garden side by side without sharing a word, Jude's gaze falls on the huge window glass that overlooks the living room. His breath itches when he sees Connor's blazing gaze, looking straight at the two of them, his lips drawn together in a thin line. Noah probably doesn't notice but Jude steals a quick glance from the corner of his eye anyway. He's indeed looking straight ahead, walking towards the backdoor. Jude turns to look back at Connor which he's been standing there, two minutes ago but now, he notices, the lights are off. He lets out a sigh which doesn't go unnoticed as he thought it would be. Noah looks at him quizzically from the corner of his eyes but luckily for Jude he doesn't ask.

 "You don't have to.” Jude says when Noah offers to walk him back to his room.  

  
“I want to.” Noah tells him with an awkward smile twitching over his lips. Jude can tell it's not genuine. He's seen the way Noah's smile light up his whole face and this.. this is a miserable kind of smile, the classic that one pulls off with aunts and relatives asking when they're gonna meet the boyfriend. 

They come to a stop to Jude's door and the air becomes even more awkward.

“So.. thank you, for the nice evening.”

  
Noah winces a bit at the fake politeness filling Jude's voice. “Did you?”

“What?”

“Did you have a good time?” Noah sighs, shifting uncomfortably on his spot.

“Yes.. of course, I did.”

There's a more genuine smile stretching across Noah's features and Jude would lie if he said it doesn't warm him up inside.

“I'm glad. I did, too. Can't wait for the next one.”

Jude's warm smile matches Noah's as he tells him. “Yeah.. me too.”

Jude's still smiling as he steps into the dark room, waving at Noah before closing the door behind himself. He flicks the lights on and almost has a heart attack when he's met by Connor Stevens sitting on his bed, a serious look on his face as he grunts under his breath.

“About damn time.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Every comment is appreciated and motivating :)
> 
> I'm on twitter: En_sky9  
> tumblr: skyblue993


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